spinal fusion surgery and Problem With Pm Doctor .. Posted: 07-09-07 08:06am
Ok the story is I'm 19 yrs. old and a
little over a month ago I had a spinal
fusion surgery, where my discs were
completely removed and replaced. A few
weeks after my doctor told me to go see a
PM doctor, so I did.
As a person, my PM was a nice enough guy,
although I didn't like the way I was
treated there. When I say that I mean
whenever I would call in for a refill on
my pain medication, I would be told I
could not receive it unless I made an
appointment. As a result I would have to
be in there every other week. The last
time I saw him was this passing saturday.
However, the last time I saw him before
saturday I was given a urine test. When I
asked why, the nurse specifically told me
it was just to make sure I was taking my
medicine correctly, so I said ok.
Well, on saturday, when he finally comes
into the room to see me, he goes "Well one
of the main reasons you are here is that
you tested positive for THC." My jaw
dropped to the ground. I will flat out
admit that I am an occasional user,
although I have actually used it more
frequently than normal after my surgery
for reasons I will soon discuss. I was
never once told I would be drug tested in
such a manner, nor was I ever drug tested
in the past( i have had 2 other back
surgeries in the last 2 years). My main
reason for usage of the drug was when I
would run out of my pain meds and would
not be able to get into see the PM for
several days, the marijuana would help
ease the pain and also would ease the
slight withdrawal symptoms I would feel.
So he tells me that he cannot give me
anymore refills until I pass a drug test,
and said if I knew I would not be clean on
that very day, I would have to come in
within 7 days and take one or I would be
dropped from their practice. This just
flat out shocked me. I am not a heavy
drug user and if I had known I would be
tested for it, I simply would of never
used it. The problem is not stopping the
drug, the problem is that I know that it
takes a month to get this out of your
system, and I won't be clean within the
time limit I was given. I know I made a
mistake in using the drug, but I would
figure they would at least cut me some
slack and give me the maximum amount of
time it takes to leave your system before
making me take another test. Especially
since my surgeon tells me it will be 1-2
months until I am recovered, I can't be
without pain medication.
Now this morning I was able to get ahold
of my doctor(the one who did the surgery)
and he agreed to give me a refill of pain
medication. I told him that going to the
PM every other week in addition to
physical therapy was too expensive, so I
said I was going to stop the PM until I
finished therapy, and the doc said ok,
which is actually partly true, but I
wasn't about to tell him I failed a drug
test, I didn't want to be seen as a
druggy. Apparently, the PM said nothing
to him about what happened, and I would
think if he did it would be a violation of
my privacy right? However, I know
eventually my doctor will ask me to go
back to PM and there is no point in going
back to my current PM doc because I will
be dropped by the practice if I fail the
drug test or they will not let me come
back if I wait until after the time limit
they set is over.
So I guess my question is, would the best
move just be to find another PM doctor? If
I did, would my old PM be allowed to tell
him about my failed drug test? Or, as I
said, would that be a violation of
privacy? I am not going to smoke anymore
just in case the new PM doctor decides to
test me , but I just want to make sure
this past incident isn't going to prevent
me from getting pain medication refills
from other PM doctors. Since I am nowhere
near being out of the woods yet from this
surgery and will need pain medication in
the weeks to come. Any advice would be
appreciated.
|
sillyakchick
Moderator
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2688
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-16-07 13:36pm
Well, it is not a violation of your
privacy to inform the referring doctor of
your test results because it falls under
"Continuity of care". You can, however,
go to their office and give them written
instructions not to give your medical
information out to anyone. I am not sure
how they will react to this request, as
they may still insist on sending the info
to your referring doctor.
I am sorrry that the flipped out over a
little bit of MJ. Is it legal in Illinois
to have medical MJ? I don't think it is,
and for that I am sooo sorry. It really
can help with the pain and it is a great
treatment modality, in my opinion, because
it is cost effective and has few side
effects. I am surpriosed that your PM
doctor did not ask you to sign a narcotics
contract indicating that they do random
testing etc.. I would advise you to tell
the next doctor up front what you are
taking, and they may or maay not have a
problem with that.
I am so sorry for the quandry you are
caught in. Medical care is so expensive,
and they are asking a lot of you to have
an actual visit every 10 days, in addition
to your PT. I think you could feasibly
expect your surgeon's office to continue
to provide your pain meds for at least the
first three months following surgery. You
might check on their office policy
rearding pain meds as well.
Good luck.
|
tippy1124
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 1 Location: North Carolina
Re: Posted: 08-08-07 07:55am
I just wanted to say that I know what
you're going through. I had spinal fusion
surgery almost a year ago and I'm still
seeing a pain management doctor. I take
Oxycontin and Flexeril 3x a day every day
for the pain. My pain management doctor
is a really nice guy, but the nurses that
work in his office are real health forum,
especially when it comes time for my
refills. I was told to call 5 days in
advance for my refills, so I won't run out
before they can call me in, but even doing
that, it takes them forever to call you to
come pick up your refills. I have run out
on more than one occasion because of this
and just like you I am required to take
random urine tests. I'm not sure exactly
what medications they have you on, but I
will tell you this...The first time I went
through withdrawals, I thought I was going
to die and I was terrified that if I took
anything else, I would fail my urine test
and be ejected from the PM. I talked to
my regular doctor about it and he told me
flat out that when I'm having Oxycontin
withdrawals that I can take anything with
oxycodone or hydrocodone in it, such as
Percocet, Vicodin, etc and it would not
register in my urine test. I was
skeptical, but I was going through
extremely bad withdrawals, so I tried it
and it worked. Like I said, I'm not sure
what you're taking, but I thought this
information might help you a little.
